Challenge IT 2016

Congratulations to the 2016 Challenge IT winners, runners up and highly commended teams. The finals exhibition of the competition was on the 16th of March 2016, hosted by Coventry University. The competition was open to teams of students aged 11-19 from all schools, colleges, clubs and youth groups in the region around Coventry, Warwickshire, Solihull and South Leicestershire.

Between September 2015 and March 2016. Project teams (between 3 and 6 members) are invited to design and develop a Challenge IT entry on a topic of their choice, based on one of the competition categories.

The work could be done in class, at a school club or in a youth group. Its recommended that individual team members spend no more than 10 hours in total working on their team entry.

The contact adult should register all teams by Monday 16th November 2015, indicating number of entries and categories from the school or youth group.

Teams to be considered for the final event should complete the entry form, providing a brief description of their entry, for submission to the competition by Monday 1st February 2016. Each school or youth group may submit two entries per category for under 16’s and 2 entries in total may be submitted at post 16 level.

Selected finalists will be invited to attend the Finals Exhibition, with notifications sent by Monday 22nd February 2016. Teams should then prepare demonstrations, presentations and promotional materials for use in presenting their entries to the judges on 16th March 2016.

Why enter Challenge IT?

Challenge IT 2016 is the sixth competition run by BCS Coventry. Previous entrants will tell you why its useful to take part. The previous finals exhibition in March 2014 was a massive buzz; there was huge excitement generated during the judging and prize awards ceremony.

The most obvious advantage to entering any competition is that there are valuable prizes and certificates to win. Prizes for youth groups, schools and for team members have been donated by the competition sponsors, who will be at the Finals Event at Coventry University on 16th March 2016 to meet the winners and award the prizes.

However the competition is not just about the prizes, it is also about gaining valuable skills in computing, team-working and marketing. Each team will need to work together to complete their project and then write an exciting description of their entry to be invited to the Final.

At the Finals Event each team must compete against teams from across the region to present, and “sell” their finished product to the competition judges to convince the judges that they deserve a prize.

Each team should include people with different skills that will be needed as the project progresses. These skills will vary according to entry categories and to some extent the ages of team members. Enthusiasm and the will to learn something new can be more important than being an IT expert.

This competition is going to be great fun! Whether you win or not, you will learn some valuable lessons, make some new friends and remember this experience for many years to come.

Sponsors

This competition would not go ahead without the generous support of our sponsors. Please see the special Sponsors’ Page available from this link. If you wish to sponsor our competition, and have your logo displayed on our web site, please contact the School Competition Chairman